Pakistan has faced utter humiliation ever since they attempted to internationalise the issue of Kashmir with no one except China paying heed to them. Pakistan desperately tried to further their nefarious agenda on Kashmir albeit with little success. Delivered a stinging rejection, Pakistan has stooped to a level only a country like Pakistan can go with the country creating fake Twitter handles impersonating top Indian military leadership including General Bipin Rawat. The Indian Army has moved to crack down on such accounts and most of the 200 fake Twitter accounts stand suspended.
The fake accounts began springing up right after India moved to repeal Article 370 and 35A and more than 200 fake accounts were created impersonating the top military leadership in a bid to spread fake news and further Pakistan’s agenda. The accounts had been tweeting entirely cooked up situational information to suit the narrative of Pakistan about the situation in the Kashmir Valley. Apart from General Bipin Rawat, fake accounts of Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Ranbir Singh and former Vice Chief Lt Gen Devraj Anbu were also created using the photos available across various social media platforms. Due to the blatant propagation of misinformation, some accounts were suspended within 15-20 minutes of them being served a notice from Twitter. Fake news like more than 65 Indian Army personnel were killed by the Pakistani Forces was widely circulated in the Pakistani media. This comes at a time when the Pakistani Forces were forced to display the ‘white flag’ to retrieve the body of a Pakistani soldier who was killed by the Indian Army.
In October 2018, BrahMos Aerospace engineer Nishant Agarwal and BSF Jawan Achutyanand Mishra were honey-trapped by ISI and Pakistani girls and they are attempting to seduce several other personnel of Indian security agencies through Facebook and WhatsApp. Recently, the Indian intelligence agencies have busted a “call centre” being run by the ISI in Jhelum which was targeting the Indian Army and government officials in honey-traps, was being operated with the help of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited with over 100 Indian SIM cards having been traced as a nationwide campaign was launched by the police of various states to curb the honey-trap scandal. The Indian SIM cards were obtained by the ISI as the Pakistan customs seized the SIM cards of all the Indian travellers travelling in the country. This is a case of hybrid warfare, where the Pakistani individuals through various fake accounts of Indian girls and a polished North Indian accent attempt to seduce Indian security personnel with intimate chats taking place on WhatsApp and video calls also being made back and forth. The Indian Intelligence Agencies have traced scores of such fake accounts and this has also prompted Army Chief General Bipin Rawat to take steps to prevent the honey trapping of Indian soldiers. Recently, the Indian Army came out with a list of Dont’s for officers, junior commissioned officers (JCOs) and jawans and has asked officers and jawans as well as their families not to post photos on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with soldiers in uniform or military equipment, installations and cantonments in the backdrop. General Rawat was quoted: “Army Chief General Bipin Rawat has ordered the force to crack the whip in cases of social media rules being flouted.
“Soldiers have been told not to accept social media friend requests with names of film stars. These could be honey traps. We are taking this very seriously and cannot allow security to be compromised through social media. For those (soldiers) who are not reporting the matter, the punishment is heavy.”
The unearthing of the honey trap plot of the ISI is a breakthrough and the Indian Army must continue its crackdown while preparing for all kinds of warfare, including hybrid warfare as it is evident that the country can stoop to any level to suit their narrative and bask on fake glories.